


[Meta] Episode 4.03 ("Kaʻoia iʻo Ma Loko")

by wanderlustlover



Series: Hawaii Five-0 Season Four Meta [4]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Gen, Meta, Multi, Originally Posted on Tumblr
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-26
Updated: 2014-11-26
Packaged: 2018-02-27 02:12:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2675054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wanderlustlover/pseuds/wanderlustlover
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So many problems with this episode.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Pre-Air: Catherine and The Navy Questions

**Author's Note:**

  * For [alemara](https://archiveofourown.org/users/alemara/gifts).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  

Oh, let’s clear this up quickly. It’s very, very true and it will annoy me very, very much if and when they (or anyone) uses the word retiring. Because Catherine can’t retire with full benefits for her years of service without hitting her 20 years, which she obviously isn’t at. 

The correct word in their dialogue that she uses is “resigning her commission,” because Catherine is quitting the military for Steve/Billy/The Implausible Love Triangle pre-retirement option.

It’s almost impossible for me to try and make sense and explain to you, how she could end her military career at the end of certain Active or Reservist Terms in her Navy career, without full retirement, and with the use of canon. 

(Enlistment in the Navy is 8 years [4-6 yrs sets depending on your terms of enlistment], 4 years AD, 4 years Inactive Reserves or 6 years AD, 2 years IRR. But try lining that up to the absolute nothing we know about Cath’s job and years in, and her last season of not doing her job, and the fact she’s definitely younger than Steve and behind his Reservist time clock, and you’re asking for a headache.)

I can, easily, point out none of them line up perfectly drop of the hat with this season. And that “retiring” would never happen in a two week-to-one/two month/two episode radius timeframe. But also, she’s resigning/quitting, and I don’t know many people who decide to quit the military (when not for a medical leave/discharge in the line of duty), so maybe it does go faster when you quit.

(Also, not to be callus, but as someone who lives in Military City, USA? Her so-far pictures paint her ceremony as small and rather sparsely attended. There aren’t that many people standing there watching her leave.

And it actually bothers me, on a military background level, that Steve isn’t in a uniform of any kind in those. Because that would speak volumes at a ceremony here, if someone of rank showed up in civilian dress instead as representing themselves as part of the military entity [barring emergency circumstances]

It would be like saying you support someone personally, but not professionally, which would be a minor blow from someone with his credentials).


	2. Catherine Quit The Navy. She didn't not Retire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  

Because I’m feeling really, really offended about Cath’s push through on her resignation [not Cath herself, but Cath’s resignation as a plot device, very specifically], have some official documentation off of http://www.public.navy.mil/. [Citation location here]

Pay some close attention to the part that says initial requests take 8-12 weeks (2-4 months), and all requests must be submitted **9-12 months (9 months-1 year)** prior to the date of separation. 

*

It’s lovely to think we can handwave not knowing how much time is between episodes, but I doubt there’s a whole 11-16 months in-between Episode 4.02 (when she hadn’t even put her resignation letter in yet) and 4.03 (when she left The Navy). 

Sometimes I wish I could stop caring about the bastardization of the military in this show, but I seriously did not think they’d unceremoniously shove Catherine out of the Navy, as easy as pulling a pin out of her hair, and into Billy’s lap within the gap of one episode for the sake of the new shiny Billy-Cath-Steve Love Triangle tension that is already on 95% of Cath’s or Billy’s scenes so far this season.

I just. There are rules. People. It’s the military. There. Are. Rules. 

Rules that were the foundation of my, and several other peoples, lives.


	3. Why was Steve in a suit instead of his uniform for Cath’s ceremony? Did he quit wearin’ a uniform when I wasn’t looking?

That’s an insanely good question because he shouldn’t be out of uniform for that ceremony. Billy shouldn’t be in one, and isn’t since Billy resigned/retired the end of Season Three (whichever it was, that I’m not remember off the top of my head, as he wasn’t important yet then). 

But Steve should be in his dress blues or dress whites.

Anything else (without emergency circumstances) is a slight to his support of Catherine’s choice/her resignation. I covered this a few days ago, when the release had this was happening in 4.04/4.05, which I pointed out was still having her leave the military too fast for process. And now she’s out five seconds after the show brought it up.

So convenient movement of female character continues to be convenient.

But on any of the bases in my city, and pretty much in general, it’d be expected. To show up in your dress uniform. For any and every ceremony of standing. Unless Steve retired/resigned himself somewhere in there while they were never showing us his being in the Reserves enough either I’m going to have to continue to take it like any military person would.

That Steve supports Cath’s decision personally, but not professionally. 

Because that’s what it means, when you buck the respect of peers rules.

* * *

Actually someone spotcheck me please, but has Steve shown up anywhere important ever in civilian dress instead of his dress uniforms? Or in a plain suit to anything that was not a case, something with specific dress code or a Five-0/Hawaiian Government social event?

_He wore his dress blues for_ — His Dad’s Funeral (1.01), Kono’s Graduation (1.02), Meka’s Funeral (1.08), Danny’s Last Court Hearing (3.14), Freddie’s Funeral (3.20), Dress Whites/[Unknown Event] (S4)

_He wore a suit/tux for_ — Cases (1.02, 1.07), Meeting Dennings/Lori (2.01, semi-business casual blue-thing), Chin’s Wedding (2.12), The Governor’s Auction (2.16), Cath’s Carry Off in S3 (3.11), Case/Civilian Funeral full black suit (3.18 — thanks, blueofthebay)

Am I missing anything else he wore it to? Am I overlooking any single instance of a tux or plain civilian suit use toward an important event that’s just skipped my mind?

(I know he did green camo and the brown uniform in Season 2, but did I miss a dress uniform episode in that season, too? Since the others have a semi-frequent roll out on look to it.)

But I’m really spacing on any other Important Life Events he didn’t wear it for.


	4. SIX THINGS ON EACH SIDE OF THE LINE

I’m feeling very dismal and depressed about my happy land this morning still, so I’m taking the tactic with it I usually take with my life when I feel this way about it. Which requires me to write about happy things.

So here’s an even breakdown, so I can look at the good things I loved, too. Even if in my head, I’m still at this being like 65% one and 35% the other. At least I pointed out things that I can see my old show in if I struggle to look at and love on them excised from the whole.

>   
> **Six Things I Really Loved**
> 
> 1\. The first scene of the episode. I really felt the love/chemistry/sex/effort of a marriage post-a new child of those two random extra/victim people, being flirty, seriously, playful. It was lovely to see that they could convey that much, that well, in that little time in the show still. I thought they’d lost it, but beautiful proof they haven’t entirely. 
> 
> 2\. Danny and the baby, which really is maybe my happiest point in this episode. Her adorable little hand-eye rubbing while Danny is rubbing down her hair, across her shoulder being so tender. Also, the ending monkey scene, giving her Grace’s monkey. I need all the things with Danny and babies now.
> 
> 3\. The Kono-Adam shout-out update. We didn’t get them, but we did get a relative mention in the episode that kept it realistic that Chin was in contact with Kono and updated the audience to where/how she was. I was so glad to see this actually happening this season.
> 
> 4\. Chin Ho Kelly getting even more high school background! Yes, please do tell me all about how you were loved by your friends parents, played a trumpet, and were the Star Quarterback. I could not stop smiling. I agree with Danny, bring on the pictures. I want so many more stories of Chin as a child if we get more of Jerry in the future.
> 
> 5\. I loved the case itself. All the things involving Jerry-Chin-Steve-Danny. (Which was easily wrapped into dragging out the fact I love massive super secret organizations, historical landmark history, and was so happy to see/hear a mini-Lost reunion, with multiple X-Files & Lord of the Rings references.)
> 
> 6\. Both of the Max & Steve scenes made my heart a really happy places. I love the BBF reference, and the fact Steve was utilizing someone to help him who was not Cath. I love the money-lay away stodgy adorable of that whole payment conversation, and how Max never once thought to check with Steve when the price ended up that high.
> 
> *
> 
> **Six Things I Really Didn’t**
> 
> 1\. Still no update on Fong Was Nearly Stabbed to Death Watch (or Missing Doris) three episodes later. 
> 
> 2 Catherine retiring from The Navy on a second’s notice for a convenient plot device, and yet the show still using her Navy Intel favors, in the exact same breath. 
> 
> 3\. Danny going blindingly glaring sexist, about Catherine being unable to work with other men/her ex without the temptation to cheat on Steve, for the second week in a row, while sporting a massive lack of coherent characterization or background matching it. (To including here the lack of Steve even caring to ask where this is coming from, since Danny’s never once talked about ‘women’ this ways in over three years.)
> 
> 4\. Steve & Danny’s massively violent first entrance, beating down a door and then beating up on a suspect who turned out to be a sort of screwed up idiot who wasn’t innocent of culpability, but who had not the smallest clue what had happened to his brother, sister-in-law, and niece or why he was facing police brutality suddenly. 
> 
> 5\. How Steve & Cath’s first scene is a really good step about him openly trusting someone in spite of his own admitted doubts, and how that plays straight into both in Cath not telling him Billy brought the cake, even though he’s a guest and not a coworker, and the last scene where Steve has to look uncomfortable/jealous about realizing Billy is there and Cath is smiling at him.
> 
> 6\. How somehow Danny’s ‘almost to the L-Word’ with a world wide traveling, archeology-museum specialist, but she never once got a shout out or appearance in an episode it would have made sense to pull her in on. Gabby would have loved this. With all of the artifacts and all the hidden Hawaiian history. Why isn’t that here? Do they not remember how well pirate gold went?


End file.
